Introducing Goat Beard


By Art DelFavero, RM552

In 2019 I was able to purchase a fine hobo nickel with some very distinct and memorable features (example 1). One of the attributes that stood out was a long skinny beard end that hung off the chin. I knew that I had seen another by the same artist offered as a lot in one of our earlier auctions. Soon after I found a photo that confirmed this (example 2). A couple of months later while perusing the archives a third match showed up via the QD file section (example 3). At this point the criteria had been met to proceed with proper nicknaming protocol. The aforementioned scraggly beard end reminded me of a goat's chin, which of course inspired the nickname "Goat Beard". Example 4, provided by Marc Banks, while missing the thin neck and extended beard, it has most of the other elements (hat, notch at the bridge of the nose, mouth) of the Goat Beard carvings and a strong resemblance to the second example (punched eye). Example 4 is deemed to be a variation of "Goat Beard."

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The carving characteristics for "Goat Beard" are as follows:

  1. Well-rounded derby hats with adorned bands and heavily turned down brims.
  2. C-shaped engraved ears.
  3. Engraved and punched head and facial hair.
  4. A long skinny beard end that that almost meets the coin rim.
  5. Eyebrows over enhanced eyes.
  6. Long, thin necks with Adam’s apples.
  7. Profile, mouth modifications and notches above nose.
  8. Simple extended collars and shoulder areas.
  9. LIBERTY and dates left intact with 1917 date added on first example.